The present invention relates to an improvement in galley locations for an aircraft, and more particularly to a galley compartment located in the aft portion of the upper deck of a three deck passenger aircraft.
Food and beverages for passengers on conventional, commercial passenger aircraft are normally dispensed from storage and service centers, normally called galleys, on the main passenger deck of the aircraft. These food and beverage storage and service centers require a significant amount of premium floor space on the passenger deck that could otherwise be used for passenger seating to increase operating revenues. One prior art suggestion for increasing seating capacity on the passenger deck of a two deck aircraft, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,899 to R. L. Vernon, is to dispose all or a portion of the galley in the lower cargo deck of the two deck aircraft. This arrangement has met with some acceptance, eliminating some of the space requirements for galleys on the passenger deck and thereby allowing an increase in seating capacity on the passenger deck. A drawback to this arrangement is the trade-off between increased passenger seating, and consequently increased passenger revenues, and the decrease in cargo space utilized by the galley relocated on the cargo deck and a resultant loss in cargo revenues. One prior art configuration for locating all galley compartments on the main passenger-carrying deck is discussed below.
Among the objects of the present invention are: to provide a galley configuration that increases the number of available passenger seats in an aircraft; to promote a high degree efficiency in food and beverage service by effectively separating the galley facility required for the food serving function from that required for the food storage and preparation function; to provide such a food storage and preparation galley that is directly accessible to ground and flight crew members; to provide a galley configuration and location that require minimum space on the main passenger deck without affecting cargo capacity in the cargo compartment; to provide a galley configuration that requires no special equipment or techniques in ground kitchens; to provide a galley configuration that requires no special ground transportation, special aircraft loading equipment or special onboard food handling and serving; to provide a galley configuration that is tailored for maximum flexibility, interchangeability and adaptability so that conventional modular food and beverage storage and service units can be employed; to provide a galley configuration that requires no special sequencing of aircraft ground servicing equipment for galley loading and unloading; to provide a galley configuration that improves the environment in the passenger seating areas, i.e., provides a reduction in galley noise and food odor in the passenger seating areas; to provide a galley configuration in which a main galley compartment can function as a private crew rest area for long duration flights.